Drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness equipments

ABSTRACT

A drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment has an eccentric driving member located on the first side of gravity wheel, which has inner and outer side plate sections and an interconnecting piece. One end of outer side plate section is fitted over and fixed to the shaft. One end of inner side plate section is connected to an eccentric position of gravity wheel by the first bias joint pin. A separate bearing pedestal is located on the second side of gravity wheel, including bearings screwed on the shaft, a pedestal shell fitted over the bearing and a radial protruding plate on the periphery of pedestal shell. The protruding end of radial protruding plate is connected to an eccentric position of gravity wheel by the second bias joint pin.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to fitness equipment, and more particularly to a drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98

In the existing design of exercise equipment, to enable the operator to obtain a certain drag effect during exercise for a better exercise effect, a gravity wheel (also known as counterweight wheel or flywheel) is usually provided. The gravity wheel is connected to the mechanism which is crank or pedal driven by the operator's force. In order to implement better drag effect under the condition of minimum outside diameter of the gravity wheel, the known practice usually uses a belt pulley block variable-speed gear to increase the drag effect, or arranges an electrically controlled magnetic drag regulator to regulate and control the drag.

Under the constraint that various specifications (e.g. outside diameter, wheel width and weight) of the gravity wheel cannot be increased further, the maximum drag effect the known exercise equipments can implement through said belt pulley block and electrically controlled magnetic drag regulator is supposed to reach a bottleneck, it is difficult to make significant progress.

Furthermore, said belt pulley block results in problems and defects in the overall structure of exercise equipments, such as occupying too much space and increasing the component material cost and assembly cost greatly. These problems are obviously the important technical topics for consideration.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment. The technical problem to be solved is how to break through the goal for developing a novel drag structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment with higher ideal practicability. Said gravity wheel is to be installed in a position of a shaft of fitness equipment. Two ends of the shaft are to be driven by the preset power source to rotate. The gravity wheel comprises a first side and a second side.

In terms of technical characteristics of the present invention, said drag gain structure comprises an eccentric driving member, located on the first side of gravity wheel. The eccentric driving member comprises an outer side plate section, an inner side plate section and an interconnecting piece located between the same ends of outer side plate section and inner side plate section. One end of the outer side plate section far from the interconnecting piece is provided with a coupling hole kit and fixed to the periphery of shaft, so that the outer side plate section and shaft are interlocked. One end of the inner side plate section far from the interconnecting piece is connected to an eccentric position of gravity wheel by the first bias joint pin. The inner side plate section is connected to the end of the first bias joint pin. There is a pitch to the first side of gravity wheel. The intermediate section of inner side plate section is provided with an avoidance through hole for the shaft to pass through in loose fit state. A separate bearing pedestal is located on the second side of gravity wheel and screwed on the periphery of shaft. There is an axial spacing between the separate bearing pedestal and gravity wheel. The separate bearing pedestal comprises a bearing, a pedestal shell fitted over the bearing periphery and a radial protruding plate on the periphery of pedestal shell. The bearing is screwed on the periphery of shaft, the protruding end of radial protruding plate is connected to an eccentric position of gravity wheel by the second bias joint pin, and the radial protruding plate is connected to the end of the second bias joint pin, there is a pitch to the second side of gravity wheel.

In terms of main effect and merits of the present invention, the driving drag can be increased by eccentric drive and non-direct transmission, the space volume, material and assembly costs of the drag structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipments are reduced greatly, implementing better economic benefit of industry and practical progressiveness.

Another purpose of the present invention is to reach an operation equilibrium state between the eccentric passive point and eccentric supporting point of the gravity wheel by another technical characteristic of interlacing relationship between the second bias joint pin and the first bias joint pin, so as to implement the merit and practical progressiveness of better stability and smoothness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a combined section view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is the close-up view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of another embodiment of this structure type.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the interconnecting piece of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 4 show the preferred embodiments of the drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipments of the present invention, but these embodiments are for illustration only, the patent application is not limited to this structure. The gravity wheel 10 is to be fixed to a shaft 20 of a fitness equipment, two ends of the shaft 20 are to be driven by the preset power source (e.g. pedal crank component) to rotate. The gravity wheel 10 comprises a first side 11 and a second side 12.

Said drag gain structure comprises the following components: an eccentric driving member 30, located on the first side 11 of the gravity wheel 10, the eccentric driving member 30 comprises an outer side plate section 31, an inner side plate section 32 and an interconnecting piece 33 located between the same ends of the outer side plate section 31 and inner side plate section 32, wherein one end of the outer side plate section 31 far from the interconnecting piece 33 is provided with a coupling hole 310, fitted over and fixed to the periphery of the shaft 20, so that the outer side plate section 31 and the shaft 20 are interlocked. One end of the inner side plate section 32 far from the interconnecting piece 33 is connected to an eccentric position of the gravity wheel 10 by a first bias joint pin 41. The inner side plate section 32 is connected to the end of the first bias joint pin 41, there is a pitch to the first side 11 of the gravity wheel 10. The intermediate section of the inner side plate section 32 is provided with an avoidance through hole 320. The avoidance through hole 320 lets the shaft 20 pass through in loose fit state; a separate bearing pedestal 50, located on the second side 12 of the gravity wheel 10 and screwed on the periphery of the shaft 20. There is an axial spacing 60 between the separate bearing pedestal 50 and the gravity wheel 10 (only indicated in FIG. 3). The separate bearing pedestal 50 comprises more than one bearing 51, a pedestal shell 52 fitted over the periphery of the bearing 51 and a radial protruding plate 53 on the periphery of the pedestal shell 52, wherein the bearing 51 is screwed on the periphery of the shaft 20. The protruding end of the radial protruding plate 53 is connected to an eccentric position of the gravity wheel 10 by the second bias joint pin 42. The radial protruding plate 53 is connected to the end of the second bias joint pin 42, there is a pitch to the second side 12 of the gravity wheel 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in this case, the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 are located in the eccentric positions in different directions of the gravity wheel 10 respectively, so that the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 are interlaced; wherein an avoidance punch hole 13 is located in the center of the gravity wheel 10 for the shaft 20 the pass through in loose fit state, forming the indirect transmission of simultaneous motion of the gravity wheel 10 and the separate bearing pedestal 50 connected only by the second bias joint pin 42. It is noteworthy that the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 are interlaced, which is a preferred implementation pattern, but not limited to this, i.e. the implementation pattern that the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 can be located in the same laterally eccentric position of gravity wheel 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in this case, the interconnecting piece 33 of the eccentric driving member 30 is a cylinder fixed between the same ends of the outer side plate section 31 and inner side plate section 32; or as the implementation pattern shown in FIG. 6, the interconnecting piece 33B can be a plate body integrated between the same ends of the outer side plate section 31 and inner side plate section 32. In addition, the interconnecting piece 33 (or 33B) and the first bias joint pin 41 are located in equidistant or approximately equidistant positions on two opposite sides in radial direction of the shaft 20 respectively.

Wherein the central imaginary connecting line between the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 is any arrangement relationship of straight line or meander line through the center of the shaft 20; this part is shown in FIG. 4, the central imaginary connecting line L1 between the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 is an arrangement relationship of meander line through the center of shaft 20; as shown in FIG. 5, the central imaginary connecting line L1 between the second bias joint pin 42 and the first bias joint pin 41 is an arrangement relationship of straight line through the center of shaft 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this case, the bearings 51 of the separate bearing pedestal 50 are two paired sets; the two paired sets of the bearings 51 lead to relatively steady screw supporting effect.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this case, the plates of inner side plate section 32 and outer side plate section 31 of the eccentric driving member 30 are arranged in parallel with an included angle of 0°, or the plates of inner side plate section and outer side plate section of the eccentric driving member can be arranged in non-parallel with an included angle of 1° to 45° (note: this case is not drawn), this implementation pattern can further enhance the bias effect.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in this case, the second bias joint pin 42 is dual column spaced. This case uses the spaced arrangement of said dual column, so that the drive of simultaneous motion of gravity wheel 10 and separate bearing pedestal 50 connected by the second bias joint pin 42 is steadier.

Based on said structural composition type and technical characteristics, the drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipments disclosed in the present invention can be used as the drag structure for the existing exercise equipments, such as pedaled exercise bikes, elliptic stair steppers and so on. This part is as the implementation pattern shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 where the two ends of shaft 20 are provided with pedal crank component 70 as the power source, and the shaft 20 can be screwed on the structure of a supporter 71 of fitness equipment. The structure type design of the present invention gains the driving drag by such innovative and simple technical characteristics as said eccentric driving member 30 and separate bearing pedestal 50. In terms of the eccentric driving member 30, when the user pedals the pedal crank component 70 to rotate the shaft 20, not driving the gravity wheel 10 directly to rotate, the outer side plate section 31 is driven through the 310, and then the interconnecting piece 33 interlocks the inner side plate section 32. The inner side plate section 32 drives the eccentric position of the gravity wheel 10 by the first bias joint pin 41, the zigzag drive path of the eccentric driving member 30 enhances the drag sense when the user applies force to drive the gravity wheel 10 to rotate. This principle is simple, the indirect transmission form takes more strength than direct transmission form. Therefore, the drag sense in driving the gravity wheel 10 to rotate can be enhanced without increasing the outside diameter and width of the gravity wheel 10. Said eccentric driving member 30 can be formed by simple plate and cylinder components, simple structure, convenient assembly, and small size, the fitness equipment manufacturing cost can be reduced considerably. In terms of driving torque of the gravity wheel 10, the eccentric driving member 30 disclosed in the present invention drives the gravity wheel 10 through the first bias joint pin 41, the interlock point is located in the eccentric position of gravity wheel 10, in comparison to the known direct interlock type at shaft, the reflexed extension structure and eccentric interlocking structure of eccentric driving member 30 have significantly multiplicative twisting force arm, so once the gravity wheel 10 is rotated to generate inertia, the generated inertia and centrifugal force are larger than that known.

DESCRIPTION OF EFFICACY

The “drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment” disclosed in the present invention comprises said eccentric driving member and separate bearing pedestal, and the first and the second bias joint pin are located in the eccentric positions in different directions of gravity wheel respectively, interlaced with each other. In addition, based on the innovative unique structure type and technical characteristics, e.g. indirect transmission relationship of simultaneous motion of gravity wheel and separate bearing pedestal connected by the second bias joint pin, compared with the known structures proposed by previous technologies, the present invention can increase the driving drag by eccentric drive and non-direct transmission, so as to reduce the space volume, material and assembly costs of the drag structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipments greatly, and the inertia moment is increased greatly, which are better economic benefit of industry and practical progressiveness.

On the other hand, the technical characteristic of interlacing relationship between the second bias joint pin and the first bias joint pin is important for the present invention, which implements an operation equilibrium state between the eccentric passive point (i.e. the first bias joint pin) and eccentric supporting point (i.e. the second bias joint pin) of the gravity wheel, so that the actuation is steadier and smoother. 

I claim:
 1. A drag gain structure for the gravity wheel of fitness equipment, said gravity wheel is to be installed in a position of a shaft of fitness equipment; two ends of the shaft are to be driven by the preset power source to rotate; the gravity wheel comprises a first side and a second side; said drag gain structure comprises: an eccentric driving member, located on the first side of the gravity wheel; the eccentric driving member comprises an outer side plate section, an inner side plate section and an interconnecting piece located between the same ends of the outer side plate section and inner side plate section, wherein one end of the outer side plate section far from the interconnecting piece is provided with a coupling hole fitted over and fixed to the periphery of the shaft, so that the outer side plate section and the shaft are interlocked; one end of the inner side plate section far from the interconnecting piece is connected to an eccentric position of the gravity wheel by a first bias joint pin; the inner side plate section is connected to the end of the first bias joint pin, there is a pitch to the first side of the gravity wheel; an avoidance through hole is located in the intermediate section of the inner side plate section, the avoidance through hole allows the shaft to pass through in loose fit state; a separate bearing pedestal, located on the second side of the gravity wheel and screwed on the periphery of the shaft; there is an axial spacing between the separate bearing pedestal and the gravity wheel; the separate bearing pedestal comprises more than one bearing, a pedestal shell fitted over the periphery of the bearing and a radial protruding plate on the periphery of the pedestal shell, wherein the bearing is screwed on the periphery of the shaft, the protruding end of the radial protruding plate is connected to an eccentric position of the gravity wheel by the second bias joint pin; the radial protruding plate is connected to the end of the second bias joint pin, there is a pitch to the second side of the gravity wheel; an avoidance punch hole is located in the center of the gravity wheel for the shaft to pass through in loose fit state, forming the indirect transmission relationship of simultaneous motion of the gravity wheel and the separate bearing pedestal connected by the second bias joint pin.
 2. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 1, wherein the second bias joint pin and the first bias joint pin are located in the eccentric positions in different directions of the gravity wheel respectively, so that the second bias joint pin and the first bias joint pin are interlaced.
 3. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 2, wherein the interconnecting piece and the first bias joint pin are located in equidistant or approximately equidistant positions on two opposite sides in radial direction of the shaft respectively.
 4. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 3, wherein the central imaginary connecting line between the second bias joint pin and the first bias joint pin is any arrangement relationship of straight line or meander line through the center of the shaft.
 5. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 4, wherein the bearings of the separate bearing pedestal are two sets arranged in pair.
 6. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 5, wherein the plates of inner side plate section and outer side plate section of the eccentric driving member are arranged in parallel with an included angle of 0°.
 7. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 6, wherein the plates of inner side plate section and outer side plate section of the eccentric driving member are arranged in non-parallel with an included angle of 1° to 45°.
 8. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 7, wherein the second bias joint is dual column spaced.
 9. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 1, wherein the interconnecting piece of the eccentric driving member is a cylinder fixed between the same ends of the outer side plate section and inner side plate section.
 10. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 8, wherein the interconnecting piece of the eccentric driving member is a cylinder fixed between the same ends of the outer side plate section and inner side plate section.
 11. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 1, wherein the interconnecting piece is a plate integrated between the same ends of the outer side plate section and inner side plate section.
 12. The drag gain structure for gravity wheel of fitness defined in claim 8, wherein the interconnecting piece is a plate integrated between the same ends of the outer side plate section and inner side plate section. 